Given its the first pack of the year, will be interesting how many more are released this year. Given the timings of releases last year, would something similar be too optimistic - after this one then one towards end of October (either Halloween related, or Rise of Skywalker to coincide with Arcade1Up release perhaps), and then what will probably be a safer bet, another in early December so they have something new to sell for Christmas.
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Welcome Back to Digital Pinball Fans - please read this first
Williams' Collection Volume 6 guesses
- Thread starter Blkthorne
- Start date
Pinballwiz45b
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- Aug 12, 2012
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Ran out of time, never got around to it? Same reasons why we didn't have a chance to see Fire!, Big Guns, Road Kings, Mousin' Around, etc.
I think this upcoming new pack release is to cross the bridge between now and the end of the year when the new consoles come out. FX4 will be released on those new platforms with some improvements and a different rating so the censorships isnt needed anymore. Thats probably the time to release some licensed tables and tables like Jackbot and Bride of Pinbot.
An other thing in FX4 is probably the latest physics implemented in older releases aswell. Its not happening in fx3 because of the leaderboards. If I remember right they also had two Zen originals ready to be released last year or earlier this year we dont hear anything about anymore. Probably saved for FX4.
Maybe they also switch platform from Steam to Epic.
An other thing in FX4 is probably the latest physics implemented in older releases aswell. Its not happening in fx3 because of the leaderboards. If I remember right they also had two Zen originals ready to be released last year or earlier this year we dont hear anything about anymore. Probably saved for FX4.
Maybe they also switch platform from Steam to Epic.
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Pinballwiz45b
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FX3 is only 3 years old, and FX2 was 7 by the time they removed it from the stores, so I'm debunking that rumor. It'll probably be a few years before we see FX4.
Doubt. They showcased new flipper physics on their AFM Arcade1UP cabinet. They're still tweaking the physics so that by the time Arcade1UP Williams releases, we'll start seeing them on FX3 as well.
Williams Pinball Volume 6 is a Steam release. Right now, only Zen's recent indie games are/were Epic Exclusives. If they change to Epic, they'd lose so much of their playerbase on Steam, and that's not a good business move. Myself included.
Really hope from now on we will get one unreleased table per new pack. It will be a better reason to buy the packs. I mesn, im enjoying all packs so far, got them on Switch, but now knowing something new is coming is very exciting! Bad Cats incoming next?
shogun00
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That's what I'm hoping as well.
Pinballwiz45b
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Really hope from now on we will get one unreleased table per new pack. It will be a better reason to buy the packs. I mesn, im enjoying all packs so far, got them on Switch, but now knowing something new is coming is very exciting! Bad Cats incoming next?
So here's a problem with games like Bad Cats, because they have no multiball. Sure, we got Cyclone and much older games in Pinball Arcade and other compilations, but think about it in Zen's perspective. All of their games have a multiball upgrade.
Bad Cats is single-ball. I'm pretty sure they have a short list of games, single-ball play only, with a VERY low priority attached.
kimkom
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- Jan 28, 2013
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I don`t know if there will come a FX4 by the end of the year or not, but I don`t think that the would change to epic store only, cause that would ruin there warranty that everything you bought can be taken to new version of the game. The bought tables are saved in Steam database and you would need to buy all tables for epic again, cause there isn`t a platform comprehensive save otherwise you wouldn`t need to buy for every console alone
trash80
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There isn't any warranty for current Zen game content that applies to future games that Zen may release. You know, there are quite a number of tables that have disappeared over the years as licenses expire and platforms change. Steam is a platform, and Epic is a separate platform, just as GOG is it's own platform, the platform is a user account within that digital store, not the specific hardware you play on.
suffocater
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If there would be a switch to Epic, they would lose a customer in me.
trash80
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Just based on Zen currently recruiting Steam users to be the future Steam forum moderators and game ambassadors tells me they are changing focus. While there are many good things about the Steam platform, there is at least an equal amount of cancer to deal with from a publishers perspective. I'd bet that if Zen did decide to go exclusively Epic, most of us here would probably keep purchasing Zen content.
Here is an interesting article: https://www.pcworld.com/article/348...inst-steam-has-made-all-pc-gaming-better.html
"At GDC, Epic said more than 85 million accounts were using the Epic Games Store already—and that 40 percent of them didn’t have a corresponding Steam account."
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trash80
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And pick up 10 new customers to replace you with the Zen pinball inside of Fortnite promotion.
Pinballwiz45b
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Epic's store is laughable, I wouldn't even consider it competition. After 1-2 years of being available, they still don't have a !@#$ing shopping cart. Consider these:
If Zen changes to Epic from Steam and their entire catalog moves there, how can we move what we already have? If Zen releases FX4 on there without backwards compatibility?
Zen also has MANY DLC available. Imagine trying to purchase every single pack. Individually. Out of all games I've seen on the Epic Store, I see no DLC for any of them. (EDIT: Probably in-game DLC. Point still stands.)
If Zen goes Epic Exclusive for next-gen, their "Pinball Everywhere 2.0" narrative gets debunked. Period. Last I checked, "everywhere" and "exclusive" don't go well together.
EDIT 2: They're also looking for mods/"Operators" on Reddit, so Steam's not the only platform.
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P.S. I tried Fortnite back in Season 4. Didn't like it. I'm not going to create another Epic account just for pinball.
If Zen changes to Epic from Steam and their entire catalog moves there, how can we move what we already have? If Zen releases FX4 on there without backwards compatibility?
Zen also has MANY DLC available. Imagine trying to purchase every single pack. Individually. Out of all games I've seen on the Epic Store, I see no DLC for any of them. (EDIT: Probably in-game DLC. Point still stands.)
If Zen goes Epic Exclusive for next-gen, their "Pinball Everywhere 2.0" narrative gets debunked. Period. Last I checked, "everywhere" and "exclusive" don't go well together.
EDIT 2: They're also looking for mods/"Operators" on Reddit, so Steam's not the only platform.
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P.S. I tried Fortnite back in Season 4. Didn't like it. I'm not going to create another Epic account just for pinball.
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trash80
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You can follow the Epic store dev process here: https://trello.com/b/GXLc34hk/epic-games-store-roadmap
Backwards compatibility doesn't mean what you state. If Microsoft decided to make a new OS and not support X86 executables then you would have no backwards compatibility. Your FX2 and FX3 purchases on Steam will continue to work as long as Valve is in business and Zen doesn't shut down their online servers. Should Zen make a completely new pinball game from the ground up and call it "Zen Pinball World featuring Stern Pinball" and release it as a timed exclusive on Epic I'm pretty sure lots of us will make an Epic account just to purchase it.
Does your idea of Pinball Everywhere include physical copies, GOG, and the various localized game and app stores out there? And if I remember correctly, there have been previous Zen tables only available on specific hardware, and it wouldn't shock me to see some Arcade1Up or Xbox/Playstation/Switch exclusives at some point in the future again.
The whole "operators" thing signals they may be moving away from active direct studio interaction within forums and boards that are not Zen branded and controlled. Many game (like Stern) companies are taking this approach more and more as they find little return on investment and a general negative to morale from places like Steam and Pinside forums. And going back to the original point, the Epic store will never have reviews or forums, and maybe that is a good thing.
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Pinballwiz45b
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Their roadmap is also laughable. I've seen it before, back when the Epic Store first launched, and the fact they didn't meet their deadlines for certain projects shows it.
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/news/trello-revamp-tracking-features
Fair point with backwards compatibility, I was going off of FX2-FX3. Even some games I have that were built for Vista/7 don't work well with 10.
Like I said, I'm still not purchasing anything off of the Epic Store. I'm all for them exploring new avenues, but I have my reasons and I'd rather not deep dive here.
trash80
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I'm no fan of Epic (from a behind the scenes perspective) and haven't purchased anything either. However, I do log in each week just to get the free game(s) of which I still have never installed a single one since 99% are games I already own on Steam. I figure at some point I will gift the account to someone that is interested.
trash80
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Zen already switched to Epic. The last three Zen game releases: Operancia, Dread Nautical, and Castlestorm II were all Epic Store exclusives. A Zen rep posted last year in the Steam forum that the future FX3 DLC packs scheduled for release would not be exclusive to Epic. The speculation is that Zen may go timed exclusive for the next iteration of their main Pinball game, this may also include exclusive original design third-party IP table packs for Xbox or PS5 just like they have done in the past.
The way it could happen and facilitate the investment required is they release specific editions for each 'next gen' platform and name them accordingly and have each include a unique to that platform initial free table. So on the PS5 you get a FTP God of War table, and Xbox you get a FTP Halo table and on Epic it could be a FTP Fortnite table. Then most previous DLC will be upgraded to 120+fps, 4k+, raytracing and VR capable without requiring us to repurchase DLC in the Xbox or PS stores. I suppose the Epic store will only have in-game DLC purchasing, so maybe Zen will associate previous PC purchases to a Zen account on the PC, but considering everything that is being done to remaster these tables for next gen, maybe we will all need to repurchase and Zen could provide us with some loyalty discount or something. Honestly, we already have many of us that have purchased the DLC on multiple platforms, so why not another?
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